


of androids and found homes

by orphan_account



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Because Real Dex Dizznee died, Dex Dizznee is an Android, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Somewhat Main Character Death but Also Not Quite?, detroit: become human au, inspired from a tumblr post by ultralazycreatorfan, it'll make sense I promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:41:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22336456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which Dex Dizznee is an android made by CyberLife.. . .inspired by a tumblr post made by ultralazycreatorfan!!
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	of androids and found homes

**Author's Note:**

> big thank you to ultralazycreatorfan on tumblr for being amazing! this ones for you! 
> 
> i hope y'all like this cause it ended up being really long. oops. 
> 
> follow me on tumblr @veetumbles y'all. show me some love there, please. i beg.

>> Booting systems… Update One out of One in Progress. Please hold…! 

“This android is top of its class! It can do everything that a normal child android can do, but it was customized to specifically act like your son would,” Came a rather loud voice to the androids left. 

From what the android could assume, it was in a rather open room, since there was quite a bit of background chatter. There were six detected heat signals within different distances from him; in total there were three adults and three children. As well, from what he could assume, there were around fifteen heat signals from distances farther than the ones closest to him.

>> Update Still in Progress… Forty-Three Percent Complete…!

“The only thing you’ll need to do is set it up with me before you can take it home,” The voice continued, moving so that it was closer to the other heat signals. 

“Him. You mean him, right? ...‘Cause Dex is- I mean- was a boy…” A small, timid voice had asked. It seemed to come from one of the children that the android had detected, since it was detected to be from a young kid. 

>> Update Almost Complete… Eighty-Nine Percent Complete…!

“Oh, my apologies! The updates should be done soon, so you’ll be able to take him home in no time at all!” The older voice corrected, a cheer-y tone layered thick over it.

At this point in its update, the android was able to open its eyes. Slowly, the false-eyelids opened, and the android could see. Of course, it took a few seconds to adjust its settings to get used to the somewhat harsh lighting, but it could see.

Looking around the room, the android took in everything it saw greedily. The room was painted a nice white color -the android’s database told it that the paints name was Master Mix, which was an odd name for paint- and had black floor tiles. It was somewhat spacious in general, and voices tended to carry inside of it. 

Throughout the room, there were seven android stands- eight counting the one that it was currently standing on. Each stand had a rim of soft blue light at the bottom, which matched the ones lining the walls and floors. 

There seemed to be five other androids in the room, each of different qualities and marks. However, they all stood frozen in place, which was similar to how it was standing. The only difference is that the android seemed to be in the process of being bought, while the others were simply being looked at. 

The android in question knew that androids could not maintain heat signals themselves, so there were around twenty-one people in the store- the Android Zone, which met all your android needs.

>> System Update Complete… Welcome DX375!

Looking around more carefully, android DX375 began to study the heat signals closest to it. 

To its left stood a man by the name of Joshua Sullivan. From what the androids databases supplied, he was in his late twenties and was quite obviously human. 

He was a worker at the Android Zone and studied technology in college in order to pursue his career. His records seemed to be clear, aside from the parking ticket that the man had yet to pay off. To be fair, the man had received it around five minutes ago. 

The smile on Joshua’s face didn’t quite meet his eyes. Instead, it seemed to be falsely placed there in order to come across as friendly. Perhaps that was a part of his job…? DX375 made note of the rather unimportant detail in his head.

When glancing over the man’s shoulder, DX375 noticed what it assumed was a family- assumed since the android still wasn’t quite sure as to what those were. There was a man and a woman and three young kids, all seeming to be the same age at first glance. 

The man was named Kesler Dizznee, and he appeared to be in his late forties, yet seemed much younger. 

He worked in a family owned pharmacy and was married to Juline, who ended up taking his last name. Kesler had four kids, one older yet deceased and triplets -two sons and a daughter. 

Kesler was tall in comparison to the woman that he was with, but also slightly shorter than the average forty-something-year-old man. His hair was a strawberry blonde with reddish undertones, and he wore a sad smile on his face. However, when looking at his heart rate, it was obvious that the man was slightly worried. 

The woman to Kesler’s right was Juline Dizznee. 

She was also in her late forties and appeared to be much younger than she really was, much like her husband. The information that DX375 could get off of her was small, but he managed to find out that she worked two jobs; one as a kindergarten teacher, and the other on some something to do with androids, such as himself. 

Juline seemed to be more emotional than Kesler was at the moment. There seemed to be an emotion etched deep onto her face that the android couldn’t quite pick up. And although she didn’t appear to be as nervous as her husband, she also wasn’t as quick to put up a front either.

Surrounding Juline and Kesler were their triplet children; Lex, Rex, and Bex. 

They were all aged eleven and were slightly short for their age. As well, they all attended the same school and were constantly around each other. Much like their mom, they had little to no information on them, accept for how well they performed in school. This was likely due to their age. 

Lex and Rex were the two sons, and the two had seemed to be bickering quietly over something. They looked identical up until their hair. Lex’s hair was more of a red and full of curls, whereas Rex’s hair seemed to just be wavy and strawberry blonde. 

Bex appeared to be egging on her brothers. She was slightly taller than them and used this to her advantage as she continuously messed with them. Her hair was more similar to Rex’s in the sense of color and texture. As well, she looked more like Rex than Lex. 

Overall, the triplets seemed to be very high energy. One minute, they were arguing and messing around, and the next, they’re laughing about something that one of them had said. It was honestly quite difficult for DX375 to follow, if it was being honest.

“Oh! It appears that DX375 has finished updating. Hello, DX375,” The android in question turned to look at Joshua, who had turned to him in surprise. 

“Hello, Joshua,” DX375 replied. It’s own voice sounded a little young, but unlike the triplets, was more on the teenager side. It was a little odd to hear at first, but DX375 just needed to get used to it.

Joshua then pulled a tablet off of the counter nearest to them and began to open something to do with android settings. He then passed the tablet to Kesler, who seemed to be more nervous than before. Despite his nerves, he offered DX375 a small smile when their eyes had met and began to fill out a form. 

Like that, new information began to appear in DX375’s view. 

Small tables of new information began to fill his mind, such as his age -fifteen- and purpose -to fulfill the role of the family’s late son, Dex, who DX375 was modeled to look after. 

“DX375, register your name as Dex, please,” Joshua had called out after taking a glance at the tablet.

A small pop-up window appeared in its view, stating that there was new information about itself. The information stated that it was now a ‘he’, and that he was taking the place of a deceased boy. 

Due to this, ‘Dex’ was once again updating. However, this update took much less time than his first, which was also quite fast. 

“Now registering name as ‘Dex’. Is there anything else that I can do?” Dex had asked Joshua as soon as the updates finished. 

Some of the people in the store had left, and in the corner of his eye, Dex could see a small crowd forming a few ways away from the Android Zone. He couldn’t quite hear what they were saying, but when analyzing the signs that they were holding, he could get the feeling that those people didn’t quite like androids.

Joshua must’ve caught wind of this, since he looked back at the door. Once his eyes locked with the crowd outside the door, his posture slumped. A hand rubbed at his forehead before turning to face Dex once more. 

“Register Kesler and Juline as your ‘parents’, and Lex, Rex, and Bex as your ‘siblings’. After doing so, run a scan and imprint their information in your database,” Joshua ordered, looking at the tablet that Kesler had finished filling out, “then, transfer commands to ‘Kesler Dizznee’ and shut down for shipment.”

The crowd outside seemed to have gotten louder, which caused Dex to pause everything. They moved closer to the store, causing Joshua to once again turn around. He picked up the tablet and typed something into it before turning to the Dizznee family and apologizing for the crowd outside. 

Due to the disturbance, two helper androids stepped out of the store to greet the forming crowd outside. It had seemed as though the androids had attempted to diffuse the situation through talking. However, the only thing their presence had done is set off the human crowd more.

The humans seemed to get more and more violent as time passed, which made Dex freeze slightly. He knew that he was supposed to be updating his system so that he could be transferred, but he couldn’t bring himself to it right away when androids like him were getting harmed.

Perhaps it was something to do with his programming. Perhaps he was manufactured to protect those he was close to, and he wasn’t updating because the Dizznee family was meant to be ‘his’ family-

Three human workers stepped out of the Android Zone after one of the androids was thrown to the ground by an angry woman. Police officers positioned near the store had intervened as well, but they intervened hesitantly. 

Since the disturbance had seemed to calm down and the human crowd began to dissipate, Dex allowed himself to begin the transfer process.

After a few minutes of updating scans and registering files into his database, Dex began to shut down. The family in front of him had begun to talk to Joshua once more, but Dex couldn’t quite follow. Instead, he embraced the inky darkness that he was accustomed to, and shut down. 

. . . 

When Dex was powered on again, he realized that he was no longer in the Android Zone. Instead, he looked to be inside of a home; he was stood in a living room to be exact. 

His first thought was to scan his surroundings to find out where he was, so he did. After he had done so, he found out that he was located in an apartment building above a pharmacy. Through more information hunting, he learned that he located in an apartment building above the Dizznee family’s pharmacy. 

Using this information, he was able to deduce that he was in the Dizznee family’s apartment. 

Looking around, he noticed that the living room that he was in was rather small and connected to the kitchen. From the kitchen, there was a small hallway leading to what Dex assumed was bathrooms and bedrooms. 

On the walls of the living room were pictures of the Dizznee family. In one of the pictures, a completed family portrait, stood Kesler, Juline, Lex, Rex, Bex, and another boy who Dex didn’t recognize.

The boy was not registered in his database, which was a little odd. And when searching him up, he was only prompted with a task. 

>> Task Obtained… Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

With that, a loud beep blared inside of his head, causing Dex to flinch and grab it. During the beep, Dex had forced his eyes shut, and in doing so, received an enormous amount of information on the boy. 

One piece of information that particularly stood out to him was the request of the Dizznee family themselves. 

The information came in the order form that they filled out three weeks prior. The form stated that the family wanted Dex to look like their deceased son, Dexter. Apparently, Dexter had went by the nickname of Dex. And Dex was DX375’s given name.

At this, he stood still and studied the picture. A hand that had hung delicately at his side reached up and touched. Why Dex felt the sudden urge to do so was unclear, yet he allowed himself to quench his curiosity.

While he ran his fingers along the glass of the picture frame, he knew that he’d fulfill his role. After all, it was what he was made for. And after the Dizznee family was done with him, he’d be sent back to Cyber Life, where he’d spend the rest of his days in their android holding facilities; it was the sad yet true life of an android. 

Then, Dex jerked his hand back as if he had been shocked. What was he doing? 

The task that Dex had received flashed across his vision once more.

>> Task Obtained… Fulfill the Role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

Dex decided that he shouldn’t be standing still anymore. After all, he had a task to do. A task that was very important.

So, he willed himself to walk away from the wall with all the family pictures. If he wanted to, he could look at them when the family was asleep. This was because androids didn’t need to sleep, obviously. He’s not some creep. He swears.

Quickly, Dex dusted off his hands and turned to walk towards the hallway. If he was lucky, he could run into one of the family members and ask them for help and if they need anything of him. 

That, however, was put on hold when he was met with the curious faces on the human children who he had registered as his siblings. 

For the most part, they had distanced themselves from him. The reason as to why they had done so was unclear, but he didn’t want to push it. 

In the eyes of Lex, he noticed a small wetness. It was very subtle, and it seemed like no one else had noticed it, but Dex had. The only reason why was due to programming and settings, but it was still something that he picked up on.

“Hello,” Dex waved at the curious children by his feet. A small smile met his lips, and the LED light on his head flashed a light blue. 

In reaction, the kids flinched slightly and looked downwards towards the hardwood flooring. Lex and Rex backed up, but Bex inched her way over. Dex, too, tilted his head, yet his smile never left his face. “Hello, Bex,”

“Dex?” Bex’s voice cracked. She lifted her hand which was once at her side and furrowed her eyebrows. As she did so, her nose scrunched up in a way that Dex’s systems recognized in the pictures stored in his database. The only difference was that in the picture, Bex had been smiling; she wasn’t anywhere close to it now.

Throwing caution out the window, she held her hand up to him, palm facing toward him. It hovered in the air slightly, causing Dex to look at it curiously. His head tilted more now, and he began to scan the hand incase something had been wrong with the young girl. 

During his scan, he noticed a small bracelet on her wrist- it looked to be a friendship bracelet made with a ‘chevron’ style and it was colored with different shades of blue and red. There were some loose threads and the bracelet itself had looked a little well loved, but it seemed to be a little tight on Bex’s wrist. 

When Dex could not find anything wrong with Bex in his scan, he looked back at her face. A look of hurt had swarmed in her eyes, and Dex made note of this in order to avoid upsetting her in the future. 

Tears had pooled in Bex’s eyes before curled her fingers in. The hand still hovered there, helplessly, for a few more seconds. It shook somewhat desperately, but Dex was too confused and couldn’t quite get the memo that she tried to get across.

Her hand then dropped, as helpless as it was when it had hovered in the air. Her nose scrunched up once more and she shut her eyes rather harshly. Her clenched fist rubbed at her eyes before shook her head and looked up at him once more.

“Bex, he’s an android. He’s not gonna get it,” Rex had said from behind his sister. He looked a little annoyed, but the annoyance didn’t quite meet his voice. Instead, he seemed as let down as Bex was. Once again, Dex made note of this in his database.

The LED on his head had flashed blue once more, which drew the attention of the three children around him. It had seemed to only solidify Rex’s point further.

With wide eyes, Bex began to defend herself “I know, Rex! I just- I thought-” her voice then trailed off. Her eyes were still locked onto Dex’s, almost pleading to understand what she knew he could not. It was something that made the gears in his head turn -quite literally. 

The sound of footsteps filled the room, and suddenly Kesler -dad- and Juline -mom- had stepped inside. Concern was plastered onto their faces as they did so, and upon looking around the room, seemed to stay.

“What happened?” Kesler asked, eyes a little wide. When he noticed the expressions on Lex, Rex, and Bex’s faces, he walked up to them.

He then to talk quietly to the three distressed children. Although Dex knew that he had the ability to listen in on their conversation, he didn’t allow himself to. Sometimes it was better to find things out for himself, and this seemed to be one of those things. 

Looking up, Dex’s eyes met Juline’s. She offered him a small smile and wave before walking up to him. 

When she got close enough, she noticed how she seemed to falter slightly. Although she didn’t quite break down like Bex did, the hurt met her eyes the same way. However, she seemed to swallow this down with another smile when she noticed how Dex was staring at her. 

“I’m sorry,” Dex apologized, turning himself so that he was facing Juline and providing privacy for the rest of the family, “I didn’t mean to make them upset.”

Juline smiled wider and placed a hand on his shoulder. While the touch was probably meant to be comforting, Dex only regarded it with a glance.

“There’s no need to apologize, dear! We’re all just… going through some tough times right now,” Juline’s voice trailed off as she stared just above Dex’s shoulder, “why don’t I show you around, huh? How does that sound?”

And with that, Dex and Juline walked around the apartment that was the Dizznee family’s home. 

. . .

>> Main Task: Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

The first time that Dex bonded with someone in the Dizznee household was in the kitchen with Juline.

It had been a good three weeks since Dex was assigned to the Dizznee family, and everyone there was just starting to get used to him. Rex had said that the process was ‘like getting used to a pet… but all we’ve had were fish and fish are kinda dumb and robo-dex is smarter than us all,’ to which Dex nodded his head. 

The family that he was assigned was honestly indescribable. They were kind and sweet, but were also incredibly crazy. 

Kesler and Juline liked to mess around with each other and the triplets. There were times where they’d wrangle Dex into their plans, and suddenly he’d be an accomplice to their schemes. He didn’t really mind this, though, since he’d managed to get their mind off of their grief and the fact that they had an android for a son. 

They’d usually hug him or show him some form of affection that he was not used to ever, to which he’d ask what had been going on. Once they explained it to him, he saved the information to his database. Then, whenever he saw one of them stressed, he’d hug them or make a joke from some weird website since that was what his task asked of him. 

Overall, Kesler and Juline, despite being kind and compassionate, seemed to avoid him sometimes. When they did, he pretended not to notice and didn’t bother them as much. As well, they seemed upset that he couldn’t quite reciprocate the emotions they showed.

Dex figured that the only reason why they had tried so hard with him was because they wanted their son back. But instead, they had gotten an android. 

The triplets were a whole different story, though. 

They were loud and crazy and were not afraid of dragging Dex into whatever mess they’d make. Usually, they’d get him to clean up after them if they made a mess that they couldn’t clean, and he’d do it without hesitation. 

There were other times where Dex would help one of them with their homework. Although he knew that they knew what their lessons were, he still helped whenever they had asked.

However, the triplets seemed to act the same way as Kesler and Juline whenever his presence became too much for them. This had happened to them more often than Kesler and Juline and it seemed to last longer as well. 

But that was all beside the point. 

Currently, Dex was doing some of the dishes in the kitchen. He knew that Juline had been particularly stressed that day, -his programming provided that information quickly- so he wanted to help her out.

In the grand scheme of things, he had just wanted to complete the small task of cleaning the dishes. It was less work for both him and Juline to do in the end, and if it meant contributing to his main task, both him and his programming were ready to get his hands dirty. 

As he had washed the dishes, he noted the time: 6:37 p.m. The family themselves had eaten dinner around 5:50, and after dinner, Kesler had taken the kids out to watch a movie. Juline had declined going in order to make sure that Dex was acounted for.

After being reassured that everything would be fine without her, Juline had gone into the bathroom to take a shower. That had left the perfect amount of time for Dex to do the dishes.

So that’s where he was now, rubbing a soapy sponge along the surfaces of some of the plates. He’d then rinse off the suds and put one more coating of soap before washing that off and putting it into the dishwasher. 

Dex knew that he’d have to work quickly if he wanted to finish before Juline was done. After all, he was doing this for her. She deserved a day off, and he wanted her to get that day off. And so, he repeated the washing and drying process many times with plates and cups of different sizes and variations.

After a couple more minutes had passed, the sound of the t.v. turning on had met his artificial ears. The news channel was currently on, and at the moment, the story of deviant androids had been playing. Apparently, there were a lot more deviants out.

The person who had turned on the t.v. quickly changed the channel to some home improvement show, probably in an effort to not start any commotion. Although Dex appreciated it, he began to wonder about deviancy and what led androids to it. 

He knew that it was bad and that he’d be shut down if he was a deviant, but he wondered what was so good about it. He wondered why it’d ever cross and androids mind. He wondered-

“Oh. Hello, Juline,” Dex had greeted without turning around. The LED light on his head flashed yellow before turning back to blue. Yellow? What had yellow meant?

He then noticed how tight his grip was on the plate. He set it into the dishwasher and turned around, offering Juline a smile. 

“Hi, Dex. What’re you doing?” A smile rose to Juline’s face as she walked closer to the android in question. This time, unlike many of the others, the smile reached her eyes. 

“I was cleaning the dishes for you. You seemed… stressed,” Dex replied, eyes scanning her face. Just behind her, a couple had began to cry due to the appearance of their house. Why were they crying if they were receiving something good? Humans were weird. 

Juline smiled wider, allowing some of her teeth to show through. The bags under her eyes scrunched up, as well as her eyes themselves. Dex knew that this was only because that was how she smiled normally. 

“Thank you!” Juline said, her voice genuine, “but you didn’t have to go through the trouble of cleaning the dishes for me.”

Now it was Dex’s turn to smile wide. He knew that Dex had smiled often around his family, -this was something he had learned from talking to Juline and Kesler- so he made sure to smile as well. 

“I know,” He replied. Juline hummed at this, a thoughtful expression meeting her face. The two had then stood in silence as Juline had thought of whatever she was thinking about inside her head.

“Would you like to help me bake something?” Juline asked after those few minutes of silence, “I’ve been meaning to bake something for a while, but I never got around to it. Now seemed like a good time, and I wouldn’t want to leave you out.” Her tone was soft and gentle. Dex noted that she was being cautious, almost as if unsure of what she was asking of him.

This caused the gears in Dex’s head to come to a halt. Sure, he knew that he had to finish the dishes, but a small part of him wanted to try baking. What this part of himself was, Dex didn’t know. It was a strange yet compelling whisper that echoed in his mind.

>> Main Task: Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

>> Side Task: Wash dishes for Juline.

The side task had been there since Kesler and the triplets left. Since they left. Were they returning? Even with his database, Dex couldn’t tell. But, that small part of him began to reason with the orders that floated around his mind.

>> New Side Task Obtained: BAKE WITH JULINE?

The glitch in his system caused him to mentally flinch. What was with the glitched side task? What did it mean? 

Was this something that he’d have to report to CyberLife? Probably, but that could be worried about later. Right now, he had to figure out why everything seemed to freeze when he received his new and glitched side task. 

He attempted to close out of the task, but the only thing it did was cause an echoing beep to blare inside his head. This caused Dex to grab his head and shut his eyes. What was CyberLife’s deal with loud and annoying sounds?

When Dex had opened his eyes once more, the task was still there. The only thing it did was… get bigger? What did the task want?

Well, whatever it meant, Dex guessed that he was going to find out.

“I’ve never baked anything,” Was Dex’s reply, honest but unfinished, “but I’d love to learn how.”

Juline smiled wide and began to retrieve two large bowls and a tray from the kitchen cabinets. She then pulled out a spatula, a wood spoon, a measuring cup, measuring spoons, and baking sheets. After grabbing all of this, she set them up on one side of the kitchen counter.

Dex watched as she moved to the refrigerator and grabbed a small egg carton and a stick of butter. 

“Would you mind going to the pantry and getting me a few things?” Juline had asked him after she had stuck the butter in a small microwave safe bowl. She moved to the microwave and set it to five seconds before putting the butter inside.

Nodding, Dex stepped to the pantry and received the ingredients that Juline had wanted. 

After he had retrieved everything, -granulated and brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, all purpose flour, and a chocolate bar to make chocolate chips- Juline set it up and dusted her hands off.

With that, the two had begun to dive headfirst into the world of baking. 

As a starter desert, the Juline made the executive decision to try and make chocolate chip cookies. According to her, the recipe that they’d be using was a family specialty that she had learned from her dad when she was the age that Human Dex was supposed to be.

Dex found it as endearing as his programming would let him that Juline had been willing to teach the recipe to him when she’d clear been waiting to teach it to her actual son. 

Juline was patient when teaching him how to bake, and despite already knowing every single fact about baking possible, acted completely clueless. After all, it made Juline smile when he asked questions to ‘better understand’ and to ‘update his database’.

At one point, one of Dex’s stupid questions had gotten her to laugh in a way that he’d never heard her laugh in before. The question was about something dumb, like what would happen if the triplets made cookies without recipes, as well as his own little theories.

Apparently, according to Juline herself, that had already happened. She recounted the story, going into great detail about how bad the cookies were and how long they took to make; according to her, Kesler had to spit one of the cookies out behind the triplet’s backs. 

It was nice to hear her voice when she didn’t seem so choked by her emotions. Dex had hoped that there would be a day where no one in the Dizznee family was. But androids weren’t allowed to hope, so he quickly shoved those thoughts away and continued to prepare the cookies with Juline.

Eventually, the cookies were put into the oven and sent to bake. Despite wishing to return to the dishes, Dex had followed Juline to the living room to watch t.v. Together, the two had begun to watch some weird animated show about elves and sparkly alicon poo. 

Although Dex didn’t quite follow it, he watched it anyway. For Juline’s sake. Not because he was fascinated by the plot and idea of it all. Nope. Not at all.

Juline seemed to notice his enthralment with the show, since she turned up the volume and started the series from the very first episode of the first season. She explained the plot to him carefully, allowing him to absorb the information before allowing it to play once more.

The timer for the cookies went off half-way through the second episode. This forced Juline and Dex out of their seats and into the kitchen, where they put the cookies on the counter to cool. 

They then returned to their show, where they talked quietly and continued to watch it.

When Kesler and the triplets got home, they found Juline and Dex talking on the couch with cooled cookies on the counter. 

What none of them noticed, however, was the yellow flashing of Dex’s LED light in contrast to his pale, freckled skin.

. . .

>> Main Task: Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

The second time that Dex had ever bonded with someone in the Dizznee family was with the triplets.

Kesler and Juline had went out to run errands and left the triplets home with Dex. Lex and Rex had shut themselves in their room in order to play some video game that Bex didn’t want to play. 

When Dex had asked her about it, she insisted that she had wanted to spend time with him instead, though her reply seemed faked. He knew that either Kesler or Juline had put the triplets up to it, and out of all of them, she was the only one who had listened.

Despite this, Dex hadn’t minded the company. Bex was sweet, and even if she avoided looking at him and stared at the t.v. instead, her presence was enough. It showed that she kind of cared.

Speaking of Bex, she was currently sitting on the couch and fiddling with her bracelet that she had on the first day he had got to the Dizznee house anxiously. She went back and forth between tugging at loose strands and twisting it around her wrist.

As well, she constantly huffed and glanced at Dex from the corner of her eye. If for whatever reason they looked eyes, she would glare and look away. Dex stopped trying to look at her after that.

Instead, he began to review his database for something, anything that he could’ve done wrong. 

The two of them had been making progress with getting used to one another. Sure, the process was slow and tedious, but the time taken was worth it if meant getting closer to completing his main task.

Just yesterday, the two had had a weird yet pleasant conversation on whatever had stumbled across Bex’s mind. The conversation had moved from the fact that Dex didn’t need to eat to something that Rex said out of fear one time.

He had even managed to get Bex to laugh at something he had said. How it was funny, he couldn’t really tell. However, if it made Bex laugh, then he supposed it was good enough.

Yet now, she heavily distanced herself from him. Was it something that he had said? Humans were confusing… that was for sure.

“Dex?” Came Bex’s voice from nowhere. Straightening up, Dex turned to face her. Again, she fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist. This time, she managed to pick a loose thread of and kneaded it between her fingers.

“Yes, Bex? How may I help you?” Dex replied, head tilting as it usually did. Perhaps it was a mannerism that Human Dex did when he was alive. 

Bex looked down, her eyebrows furrowed instantly. 

“Can I ask you something?” Bex mumbled, still intent on looking at the ground. When Dex hadn’t made any indication of saying no, she continued to speak. “Dex and I used to make bracelets, and now that he’s gone, I have no one to make bracelets with.”

Dex had a feeling that he knew where this conversation would go. After all, the programming that made him up was pretty good at reading situations. He knew that he’d end up making bracelets with Bex one way or another, and the thought of it made him smile to himself.

Why he was smiling, that was unclear. He hadn’t willed himself to smile as he usually did, but without even realizing, his lips subtly curled upwards. 

And with that, the importance of the bracelet tied snug on her wrist made sense. It was obviously made by children, since it wasn’t the best quality. It also had something about it that screamed ‘Bex’, even though she didn’t seem the type to wear a lot of jewelry. 

Perhaps it was one that Human Dex had made with Bex before he had passed.

“...So… I was wondering if you wanted to make a bracelet with me…?” She then looked up and crossed her arms, huffing a little, “I’m asking ‘cause none of the other girls at school make’em anymore, and I want someone to make bracelets with.”

Although her actions were a tad bit childish, Dex found a tone of longing in her voice. It made him feel bad. Wait… feel? Since when was he feeling?

>> Main Task: Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

>> Side Task: Watch Siblings

Again, Dex began to feel weird when looking at the side task on his hotbar. The feeling was similar to the one he felt when he was in the kitchen with Juline, right before the glitched task appeared. Then, the hotbar itself flashed twice before another task appeared. 

>> NEW SIDE TASK OBTAINED: MAKE BRACELETS WITH BEX?

Again, the world froze. This time, however, each object was bathed in a deep, red light that was unlike anything Dex had ever seen. The light called to him, begging him to stay wherever the hell this was.

The new side task glitched much more than the last and reappeared many times all throughout the room. The text had warped and jumbled, creating a mess of letters. This then resulted in the loud alarm-esc noises that he had heard twice before. They were louder this time.

Everything felt overwhelming, which was odd for an android. Androids were supposed to built to handle high stress situations. They were built to deal with the jobs that most humans would not want to maintain. So why was he so stressed all of the sudden?

All at once, the noise and sensations had become too much for Dex. Quickly, he accepted the new, glitched side task, as he had done before with Juline.

Blinking, Dex had looked around. He was back to the reality that was glitch-free. When he noticed how Bex stared at him, waiting for a reply, he sprung back into action.

Producing an artificially genuine smile, Dex blinked, “Of course!” 

Bex, finally looking up, returned Dex’s smile with a small, hesitant one of her own. She looked at the bracelet on her arm before untying it and putting it in her pocket. She did this with some difficulty and a grimace, but once she had finally removed it, she smiled at it.

Together, Bex and Dex walked over to Bex’s room. The walk was short and silent, but the silence was no longer suffocatingly still. Instead, it was welcomed and soft.

Once they had finally reached Bex’s room, she told him to wait outside until she said that he could come in. Apparently, she hadn’t been expecting him to say ‘yes’, so her room was kinda messy. Well, that and the fact that she needed to find the stuff to make bracelets.

While he was waiting, Rex and Lex had stepped out of their room and into the hallway. 

With a raised eyebrow, Lex had asked “What’re you doing?” He crossed his arms and a somewhat bored yet curious expression occupied his face. From beside him, Rex offered him a peace sign in form of a hello.

“I was just waiting for Bex. She wanted to make bracelets,” Dex answered, watching as their faces quickly changed. 

While Rex’s eyes widened, Lex smiled. Despite the differences in their expressions, it was easy to tell that they were both happy.

“She did?” Rex has asked, a small smile beginning to form on his face, “Lex and I were trying to make bracelets with her too, but it's not the same…” Although he went quiet, Rex began to smile along with Lex.

“Would you like to join us?” Dex asked, looking at the two of them, “I’m sure Bex wouldn’t mind.”

It was at this moment that Bex opened her door. Her room was somewhat small, but it was clearly well loved. 

Near the bed and on the rug sat the materials that they needed to make the bracelets. The materials themselves were in a clear carrying case that somewhat resembled a small tool box. However, instead of housing tools, inside were strings with many different colors and sizes.

When looking at Bex’s room, Dex did his best to ignore the bunched up clothes on her desk chair. As well, he just so happened to ‘miss’ the shoes and boxes kicked underneath the bed.

“Come on in!” Bex ordered, shoving both Lex and Rex inside while waiting for Dex to walk inside the room by himself, “you can go sit on the rug. It’s clean, I promise.” 

Not being one to disobey commands, Dex walked over to the soft looking white rug and sat down. Lex and Rex sat to his left, forming an odd looking triangle. Bex closed the door slightly and joined them on the rug.

Since no one seemed to want to talk, Bex grabbed the toolbox filled with colored strings. She undid the latch on the face of the box and opened it, carefully grabbing and taking out each one.

The amount of colored strings that Bex had accumulated over the course of god knows how long was insane. Just when Dex believed she had finished taking the strings out, more would appear. 

“Here they all are!” Bex announced when she finally finished taking every single string she owned out. As well, two pairs of scissors layed carefully on the rug, sharp sides facing away from them. “Do you know how to make bracelets, Dex?” 

Dex turned his attention away from the many strings on the floor and instead faced Bex, “I can’t say that I do,” He answered, once again lying for the sake of getting closer to the family. This time, he was interested in seeing how the triplets would teach him to make bracelets -if they would even consider teaching him.

At this, the triplets went silent. Then, turned towards each other and began whispering to each other quietly. Dex, not wanting to intrude, began to look at the different colored strings once more. Who knew that someone could own as many as Bex did.

The whispering went on for a few more seconds before the triplets separated, determined smiles woven onto each of their faces. 

“Alright, Dex. You’re in luck,” Bex began, her voice cool and controlled, “because we just so happen to be the best bracelet makers there ever was.” At that, Lex and Rex sat up straighter, their smiles widening impossibly.

Suddenly, Dex was thrown into the world of bracelet making. 

Although Bex had seemed to be the main bracelet-making teacher, Lex and Rex would step in every now and again to correct something that she said or fix something that was wrong with Dex’s bracelet.

They allowed him to choose his own colors and style for his first bracelet, which was ‘meant for him and him only’. Since each triplet seemed to gravitate towards one of the primary colors, Dex choose all of them. 

His choice and reasoning were enough to get them to smile genuinely, something he hadn’t seen them do since he arrived in their living room. 

After the first bracelet kind of flopped, Dex, Rex, Lex, and Bex all decided to keep going. The triplets were having fun, and Dex was able to continue working on his main task, which was nice. 

Long story short, when Kesler and Juline returned home, they entered Bex’s room only to find each child -plus one android- with bracelets covering their arms.

. . .

>> Main Task: Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

The third time that Dex had truly bonded with a member of the Dizznee family was with Kesler, the final member of the family who he had yet to connect with.

Kesler was always kind and ready to add Dex into his schedule whenever he could. The two were considered close by every outsider who could see them, since sometimes it seemed as though they were attached at the hip.

However, these assumptions couldn’t be more wrong.

It was clear that Kesler liked Dex. He enjoyed Dex’s company and Dex later found out that Kesler had been the one who wanted an android in the first place. According to Juline, Kesler wanted an android to see if it would help the family out in the long run.

She made sure to follow that up with her belief on how he was helping them out immensely, almost as if she was worried that she had upset him.

However, it was also clear that it pained Kesler to see Dex in place of his son. This was understandable since his son was gone, and instead of his son, he got an android.

An android who couldn’t think for himself all that well, which is something that humans could do easily. An android who wasn’t aloud to feel any emotions whatsoever, when humans felt them every second of every minute of every hour of every day. 

Which is why Dex stood in the mirror, staring straight into his own reflection when he was supposed to be cleaning the bathroom. 

The LED light in his forehead was stuck on the color yellow and had been that way for several days now. He forced it to change through tampering with it at night, but he knew that it was stuck at yellow. One more color, and he was heading towards the territory of deviancy. And Dex didn’t want to be a deviant. 

Raising a hand, Dex hesitantly touched the glass of the mirror. Since he didn’t have fingerprints, he didn’t have to worry about leaving prints on it after he had just finished cleaning it. 

He thought back to the first day that he arrived, and even more specifically, to the family picture on the wall. Since then, about three months had passed. Since then, he’d seen that picture a lot more often. 

He thought back to the Human Dex who he was meant to take the role of. He memorized the boys over and over again, keeping track of every small detail that he noticed; how his dimples were uneven, how he smiled like his mom, how he seemed to wear small amounts of makeup whenever he felt like it.

And with these details, he examined his own face. 

With one hand, he traced each and every delicately placed detail. His barely-there touch had glided over freckles and birthmarks and small bumps of skin detailing that he knew Human Dex had. 

He pulled the fake-skin of his face down slightly and watched as his face -no- as Human Dex’s face morphed with it. Everything was yellow turning red now. His face. The LED light. The mirror, the wall, everything. It was all. Red.

Including the wall that had appeared behind him, which seemed to crack as each second passed. The alarms in his head were pounding now, slamming sound after sound across his temple in ways he didn’t think was possible, and no matter what he tried to do inside his head, he couldn’t get them to stop. 

And like that, his hand fell from both the mirror and his -no not his- from Human Dex’s face.

Apparently, in doing so, he knocked over the bar of soap from its soap holder. It made a rather loud clang as it bounced off of the sink and bathtub before skidding to a stop just behind him. 

However, he didn’t quite catch it, since to him, everything was still red. 

>> WARNING: SYSTEM OVERLOAD. 

In his state of panic, Dex didn’t seem to notice Kesler at the door. 

A few seconds prior, Kesler had been walking through the hallway as all of this was going on and just so happened to hear the soap fall from inside the bathroom. Since he knew Dex was in there, he thought that it couldn’t hurt to check up on him.

“Dex, are you alright?” Kesler had called from the hallway. Despite the voice at the back of his head telling him he was getting worked up over nothing, he continued to check up on Dex.

When Kesler walked towards the door, he couldn’t quite find anything wrong. From what he could see from outside the hallway, the LED light in Dex’s head still shone blue.

Kesler, finding it weird that Dex wasn’t responding despite seeming to be okay. He walked quicker, passing door after door until he reached the one to the bathroom. However, before he stepped inside, he faltered.

“Dex? I’m coming in, is that okay?” He called once more, just to make sure that Dex was responding. He waited a few seconds, but he still received no response, which was unlike Dex. So, after bracing himself for the worst, he carefully stepped inside the bathroom.

Outside the bathroom was normal and usual, much like it always was. Outside the bathroom was peaceful and quiet. Outside the bathroom was not inside the bathroom. And inside the bathroom was a whole different story.

The first thing that Kesler noticed was the frozen Dex at the mirror. At first, he forgot that his Dex had passed and thought he was seeing a ghost. But no. There was no ghost. Only a scared looking android at the mirror.

The second was the soap on the ground. During its tumble, it chipped. The broken piece lay mere inches from Dex’s feet, while the bar had skid closer to the corner of the bathroom. 

Bending down, Kesler picked up the soap and put it back before thinking of how to go about the situation. 

“Dex?” He called for the final time. He then pulled out his phone and sent a text to Juline, who he knew could help him out. Then, he gently tapped Dex’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to snap out of whatever daze that he was in. “Dex, it’s me, Kesler. You’re okay.” 

With that, Dex snapped back into reality. He blinked once, twice, before focusing his gaze on Kesler through the mirror. “Kesler?” he asked. 

Dex’s voice was quiet and shaky, which was something that Kesler had never heard from an android before. Was there something wrong with Dex? Would they have to send Dex back to CyberLife?

“I’m right here, kiddo. I’m right here,” Kesler spoke quietly, hand held on Dex’s shoulder. He had gotten a sense of deja vu as he began to comfort the clearly shaken android. After all, he was treating Dex as he would his Dex. 

And maybe, this was something that Kesler needed. Because this Dex was not a replacement. He wasn’t a feeble attempt at recreating someone who had passed on; at seeing someone who had changed his life in ways he didn’t know was possible once more. 

No.

This Dex was his own person, even if he was an android. This Dex was a completely different person with different emotions and actions and needs. This Dex, despite looking like his Dex was some new. And boy, was he ready to show this Dex the world.

After calming himself back down, Kesler worked on calming Dex down. It took a little bit, as well as some additional support in the form of Juline, but the android was soon able to return to a state that was near normal.

>> >> Main Task: Fulfill the role of ‘Dexter Dizznee’

“Would you think that Dex would be mad at me for replacing him?” Dex had asked what was on his mind. After all, it was what led him to this; what led him to deviancy. Because that was what he was now. A deviant.

Emotions that Dex had never been able to feel before infiltrated his mind. His systems and database were freaking out in order to withhold what it was once unable to, but Dex didn’t mind. Because suddenly everything made sense.

“Where’d you get that question from, kiddo?” Kesler asked, hand still gripped on Dex’s shoulder. Despite not being able to face Kesler, he knew that the man in question sent a questioning look to Juline. 

“Dex, are you okay?” Juline asked as well, her hand joining Keslers rather quickly. Her grip was stronger than Keslers and she spoke in a hushed tone. “I have a feeling like I know what happened, but I need you to talk to me.”

Dex turned his head to face Kesler and Juline. He knew that they’d get rid of him if they saw what he was. If they saw that he was a monster. But in this moment, honesty was better than small lies. 

Carefully, he reached up and pressed on the LED light in his forehead. The light that was once the bright -too bright- shade of blue turned red. And with the red came the inky, inky feeling of loneliness, for he knew that he’d be feeling it soon enough. 

He closed his eyes, the main task that he received on his first day in the Dizznee household was loud in his broken head.

>̶>̶ ̶M̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶T̶a̶s̶k̶:̶ ̶F̶u̶l̶f̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶‘̶D̶e̶x̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶D̶i̶z̶z̶n̶e̶e̶’̶

But the arms that tugged him into an embrace quite unlike anything he’d ever felt said otherwise.

“You’re okay. You’re okay here. You’re safe,” Kesler murmured under his breath, hugging Dex close. Juline followed suite, whispering her own version of those words to Dex. And when the triplets had joined their hug on the floor, Dex started to think about those words.

Maybe, just maybe, Juline and Kesler -no- Mom and Dad were right. 

Despite the red that surrounded Dex and his broken, deviant self, he told himself he’d be alright, too. Because it was the truth. They’d all be alright. 

Why? 

Because Dex had found home. Dex found family. And most importantly, Dex found himself.


End file.
